Army deployment near schools, youth arrests trigger clashes in Hajin…….

Clashes erupted in Hajin area of north Kashmir’s Bandipora district on Tuesday after students, angered by deployment of army near their schools and arrests of youth last night, staged pro-freedom protests.

Witnesses said that the students of Government Higher secondary School and Govt Middle School Hajin held a protest demonstration in the area.

Government forces, they said, used tear gas to quell the student protests, triggering clashes following which shopkeepers lowered their shutters.

A senior police official said that army was deployed in the area as part of the security grid in view of the proposed visit of GoC J S Sandhu to Army Goodwill School located in the area.

“The deployment of Army angered the students and they held protest demonstrations. To quell the protests, police fired teargas shells, triggering clashes,” said a source.

He said that the students were also demanding the release of youth picked up by police last night.

The official, however, denied the reports of arrests of youth in the area last night.